All I want to do is upload some band videos

November 23, 2009 8:31 PM

Recommendations for converting a 35-minute DVD to discrete segments so I can post it on youtube?

I have a 35 minute DVD of a music performance that I want to chop up into individual songs (six, I think) and upload to youtube. Please give me your recommendations on software that will do this. It's a local band and not copy protected. I've been trying to work with Auto Gordian Knot but I'm finding it a little more complicated than that name would seem to imply. Thanks for your help

posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup to media & arts (14 comments total)

Try MPEG Streamclip. It's free.
posted by sswiller at 8:36 PM on November 23, 2009

Crap. I should have specified that I'm working on a Windows XP boxl. But thanks.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 8:42 PM on November 23, 2009

I would use HandBrake to convert the DVD to an MPEG or similar, and then use any Windows video editor to cut it up. I use OS X, so my recommendations for an editor are less than helpful.
posted by threeze at 8:44 PM on November 23, 2009

Just use Avidemux. Since it's homemade, I assume it has only one title (the video files on the DVD are VTS_01_0.VOB through VTS_01_X.VOB). Drag all of them from VTS_01_1.VOB (leave out 0, which is a menu or blank) through the highest number and allow Avidemux to append and index them (say yes to both prompts). From there, select your output video, audio, and container (XviD/MP3/AVI, in your case) and then you can select segments using the seek to keyframe buttons and the A + B markers. File -> Save Video...and in a few minutes you'll have an encoded segment ready to go.

Be aware that if the video is interlaced, you'll want to deinterlace (weave/blend/interpolate rather than bob) with one of the available video filters before uploading to Youtube so you don't get combing artifacts after transcoding.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:45 PM on November 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

Take a look at DVD Knife.
posted by JMB1138 at 8:47 PM on November 23, 2009

Oh, and you'll want to resize to square pixels before encoding so you don't end up with a squashed or stretched image. Generally, going to "true" 4:3 or 16:9 depending on which the DVD is will look OK at lower resolutions; the AR error is going to be too small to be noticeable.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:48 PM on November 23, 2009

Silly me, MPEG Steamclip is also offered for Windows.

I'll also check out Handbrake.

Thanks!!
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 8:48 PM on November 23, 2009

METAFILTER IS AMAZING.

Thanks so much for the tips!!
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 8:50 PM on November 23, 2009

JMB, I just tried DVD Knife. When I kicked it in to do an extraction, it bagged it with a division by zero error. (It also didn't install cleanly; one of the libraries wouldn't work in Win 7.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:16 PM on November 23, 2009

The new version of VLC, the swiss army knife of video players, now has a little red "record" button.

Play the video with VLC. When you get to the beginning of the song you want, click Record. Click Stop at the end of it.

Now go check your My Documents -- there's an mp4 sitting there of that clip.

Repeat as necessary.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:59 AM on November 24, 2009

Yesterday after DVD Knife failed, I uninstalled it. Then I tried installing MPEG StreamClip.

This morning I discovered that I had become a member of "Relevant Knowledge". It's a browser add-on which reports on all your browsing activity to their server. I'm pretty sure it was MPEG StreamClip that surreptitiously installed it.

It would have been nice to have known that ahead of time.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:41 AM on November 24, 2009

You might just be able to change the file extensions on the DVD video files from .vob to .mpg. But be careful when you do this, it doesn't always work.

The next most pain free way is to use VOB2MPG to convert the .vob file to an .mpg, though this will take a lot longer than just changing the file extension.

Once you have a .mpg it will be easy to cut up in Movie Maker.

VLC is nice but it when you use it's record function it usually lowers the bit rate and therefore the quality of the video.
posted by afu at 6:08 AM on November 25, 2009

Sorry, actually VLC saves as mpg., not mp4.

afu, why do you say it "usually lowers the bit rate"? I haven't noticed any degredation beyond what you would expect from making a lossy copy.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:47 AM on November 25, 2009

afu, why do you say it "usually lowers the bit rate"? I haven't noticed any degredation beyond what you would expect from making a lossy copy.

Yeah, it looks like you are right. I was thinking of the convert/save function, which has a default 800kpbs bit rate. The record button just looks like it makes a lossy copy.
posted by afu at 5:58 PM on November 25, 2009